1934 Selbach ‘Improved Taper Tube Model’

He was like that you know, he never wanted to ever make money; all he wanted was to be known as the man who made the best bicycle

– Florence Selbach in interview with Derek Roberts in 1978

‘Selbach bicycles are considered one of the finest or even the best lightweights to come from the UK in the 1920’s and 1930’s,’ says Ben Sharp, Selbach marque specialist. ‘All the bicycles that came from Selbach’s workshop were built to the highest standard of quality and the workmanship was exceptional. They are possibly the best examples of the lightweight bicycle makers craft from that period. The frames were built from the best Reynolds tubing (Reynolds A Class, Reynolds High Tensile, Reynolds Taper Tubing, Reynolds H.M. and Reynolds 531) and the highest quality fittings available from BSA, Chater Lea, Constrictor, Brooks, and Pelissier etc were used. Selbach introduced many new innovations to their bicycles including Timken taper roller bearings in steering head, wheel hubs and bottom bracket.’

1934 Selbach ‘Improved Taper Tube Model’

Frame No T1491 54

20″ Reynolds Taper Tube Frame

26″ Conloy Constrictor Sprint Rims

Wolber Tubular Tyres

BSA bb set & BSA 46T Chainset

Cyclo Pedals

Reynolds Alloy Stem

Nickel Handlebars

(Now sold)

This rare and attractive Selbach Taper Tube came from a local collector who was ‘pruning’ his excellent collection of lightweights.

Selbach was the most desirable British lightweight in the 1920s, its iconic status hardly diminishing with time. The build quality was unsurpassed: components used in Selbach bicycles were more commonly used in machinery and motorcycles rather than bicycles, eg tapered roller bearing steering head, bb, and divided hub.

The Taper Tube Frame, a patent that (according to Selbach Marque Specialist Ben Sharp) Selbach shared with Granby, was particularly innovative when it first appeared in Selbach’s 1927 catalogue. With its many racing successes, the Taper Tube model is the most collectible in the Selbach range.

This was one restored some years ago and is still in first class condition.

Not all iconic bikes ride well; some just look good 🙂

But I took the Selbach for a spin over the South Downs and can assure you that it’s splendid to ride.

The 1/4, 1, 5 and 25 miles, and 2 miles team, N.C.U National Championships, 1928, were won on a SELBACH Improved taper Tube Model.

Winning 11 National Championships in four seasons constitutes a record.

– Selbach Sales Brochure, 1929

SELBACH HISTORY

by Ben Sharp, Selbach Marque Specialist

Maurice Gaetan Selbach was born in Paris, France on 12 August 1889, his father Oscar was born in the USA and was of German decent and his mother, Marguerite Kossakowska, was a Polish Countess. M.G. Selbach received an excellent education and was fluent in French, German and English. It was said he spoke English with no accent and people who didn’t know his background would never have guessed he wasn’t English. His father Oscar Selbach was a civil engineer who had business interests in automobile manufacturing and retailing and sold cars under the Selbach name. By 1901 the Selbach family had moved to London; by then, Oscar Selbach had a new wife, Louise. They also had a house at 28 Russell Square, Brighton.

Oscar Selbach sent Maurice to Pitmans to learn shorthand but Young Maurice went on to becoming an extremely successful racing cyclist who was to win many competitive events and broke many records. During World War 1, he served in The London OCA and, in 1917, he married a Dutch girl, Adele Nabarro. After the War he had a lot more success in cycle racing, and he turned professional in 1922 after The Anerley 12 Event. He was meant to be at work on the day of the race, but instead he took the day of to compete; unfortunately for him, his boss and the boss’s brother were also riding in the same event – so when Maurice overtook his employer in the race his boss shouted out to Maurice that he was now sacked from work.

He continued to be a very successful racing cyclist and top long distance time trailist, and was a member of the Unity CC. His racing career included several record-breaking rides and he successfully completed the Paris – Roubaix in 1923 for the French Louvet team.

After winning the 6 day race held at Olympia, London, on July 1923 – in which he raced a bicycle to his own design and build painted in red, white and blue – he used the prize money to start a business. It was his intention from the beginning to make the finest bicycles for the road as well as the best track racer, clubman and tourist. M.G. Selbach started his business around February 1924, at 337 Kennington Road, in south east London; this was both his showroom and works. By March 1924 Selfridges in Oxford Street was acting as his West End agent; they also offered Hire Purchase arrangements for Selbach. Gordon Selfridge, the American owner, offered Selbach a display window on Oxford Street for his 6 day winning racer and other Selbach machines with Stars and Stripes and Union Jack flags drapped around the display.

By March 1925 he had taken on another premises at 312 Kennington Road: business was becoming very good and his reputation for building the finest lightweight bicycle was growing. During the 1920s and 30s many key racing events were won and many records broken on Selbach machines. But in Easter 1927 – a very busy time for the cycle trade in those days – disaster struck.

He had just finished preparing his bicycles. They were all stored behind his new premises’ shop windows, waiting to be collected by customers and delivery companies. A fire started when a cigarette discarded into a stack of Bluemels celluloid mudguards caught alight. Maurice was outside the shop front at the time and he kicked in the front window pane in attempt to save his stock, but instead a piece of plate glass cut an artery in his leg and he passed out on the pavement. Luckily for him a Dr Elliot was over the road and sewed up his wound on the street.

Later, these new premises were re-arranged, and this became the new office and showroom and sole contact address for M.G. Selbach. It is not known if he kept on the other addresses. In 1927, shortly after the fire, M.G. Selbach met Florence Whiting and they married. The new Mrs Selbach started to work for Maurice managing the sales and administrative side of the business and at the 1927 Olympia Cycle and Motorcycle Show M.G. Selbach had the biggest island amongst the bicycle exhibitors to exhibit their machines (their display being even more substantial than Raleigh).

Maurice was a great fan of American cars and motor cycles, particularly Buicks and Chryslers, and he often used these cars for delivery of his bicycles around London. His interest in the cars and motorbikes included taking them apart and, much to his maid’s annoyance, he sometimes used the front room at home as a workshop to strip down and rebuild the large car engines. He was also interested in wireless as a hobby and worked on many wireless projects: in an interview with Derek Roberts, Mrs Selbach always wondered what he would have done with television!

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TAPERED TUBING

M.G. Selbach invested some cash into the development of the Taper Main Tubing for cycle frames. W.E. Ewings, P.J. Dean and H.B. Harris of Granby Cycle Works whowere working on this idea with Reynolds Tubing and, in October 1926, their patent was accepted and given the Patent number 259026. Selbach taper tubing became an option on most models: at the beginning all three main tubes were tapered (top tube 1” to 1 1/8” down tube 1 1/8” and seat tube 1 1/8” to 1 1/3”) but, by the early 1930s, just the down tube and seat tube were tapered. Selbach went on to develop The Taper Tube Tandem which went on sale in 1929. It was described as having Selbach’s Patent (pat no 259026) Large Diameter Reynolds High Tensile Taper Tubing which was later made from Reynolds H.M. Large Diameter Taper Tubing and Selbach’sPatent Head Clip (which was a three piece headclip consisting of the head race and adjusting head race with a serrated edge which interlocked with the serrated edge of the separate head clip) and Timken Taper Roller Bearing bottom steering bearing. (Selbach, in his 1932 catalogue, introduced his Timken Roller bearing bottom bracket and front and rear hubs including a rear hub that could be divided. When its centre draw bolt was removed from its hollow axle the sprocket assembly was left on the frame when the wheel was removed so that the chain needn’t be disturbed. It was developed for his Business Model with a full chain case). It was also fitted with the SelbachForward FacingNovel Seat Lug Assembly which had a cut out cotter pin which went through a hole cut forward of the seat pin through the seat lug where the top tube is brazed in. M.G. Selbach had the design registered on the 18 October 1928 and it expired in 18 October 1933 (Regd design 741223). Later Taper Tube Tandems had conventional seat lugs.

In 1928 M.G.Selbach exhibited at the Science Museum, London a Selbach F.H.W. Aero Special Path Model. Which only weighed 14 ½ lbs! (It is now in their transport store but it is catalogued in The H.M.S.O. Cycles, history and development part 1 and 2.) It was built with Selbach Super Fittings, Duralumin cranks, chain wheel, hubs, pedals, seat pillar and saddle mountings. Brooks saddle and Reynolds high tensile tubing. All bright parts were Chromium plated. Maurice Selbach introduced Chromium plating on all the steel fittings like hubs and chainsets on his bikes in the 1928 catalogue for 30/- extra and was the first cycle manufacturer to do so. Some Selbach bicycles had both chrome and nickel plated parts on them including nickel plated fork crowns and ends and rear stays with chrome fittings into the 1930s – so if you come across a tatty original Selbach with a mix of nickel and chrome parts you will have some serious detective work ahead of you to determine which part was originally fitted and what was fitted later in the bikes life.

Another Selbach bicycle is in the Henry Ford Museum, U.S.A. It was presented to Henry Ford when he visited the U.K in the late 1920s. He wanted the best bicycle Britain could build to take home with him, so a Selbach with all Duralumin parts and flat upturned handle bars was chosen. In the museum it is described as a B.S.A! This confusion may be because B.S.A wanted M.G. Selbach to make a special range of racing cycles for them to be sold under their own name (1978 interview between Mrs Selbach and Derek Roberts).

[This previously unpublished article with thanks to Ben Sharp]

UK PATENT GB503187

Making ball races. RADNALL, E. A. Oct. 7, 1938, No. 29052. [Class 83 (ii)] A method of making ball races comprising helically coiling a length of wire or strip, cutting the coil longitudinally to sever the individual coils, and pressing the coils to bring their ends 10 into register and to change their cross sectional shape so as to produce an annular groove 11 in one side. The ends 10 are preferably welded together before the groove 11 is formed.

The superb article below appeared in the Boneshaker magazine, Issue 170, Spring 2006, titled ‘A Brief History of the Life of Maurice Selbach’ by Peter Stray and Richard Collar (Selbach’s grandson). Thanks to Peter Stray for permission to reproduce it.